Bizjournal's Bizwomen
Why the founder of The Ollie World baby products company took a 'purposeful break'
Published: January 29, 2024
Image: Hindi Zeidman, founder of The Ollie World, and her daughter Olive
Baby products entrepreneur Hindi Zeidman hopes she set an example for the moms who buy her products by taking a break from her company for a few months.
Zeidman, the founder of Rancho Cucamonga, California-based Ollie World, which makes swaddles for infants, spent more than 10 years building her business into a brand found on the shelves at Target and in cribs nationwide.
But in November, facing an inventory shortage — her products were nearly sold out on her website — she decided it was a good time to take a “purposeful break” from her business and spend time with her daughter Olive rather than compromise her quality control. She hoped the break would relieve the pressure she said she was feeling to meet society’s expectations that mothers “effortlessly juggle everything.”
“I really wanted to reflect on the type of working mom I wanted to be and find a way to live more in the joy of what I do and create,” she said.
Zeidman was vocal on her social media (which includes more than 400,000 Instagram followers) and her website theollieworld.com about needing time off, reiterating that she was not quitting the company, but was physically and mentally depleted after running The Ollie World for 10 years.
The response from her community was “overwhelmingly warm,” she said, and she hopes her decision sends a powerful message to all moms: It's okay to take a step back and prioritize self-care and your mental health. She said that most moms “truly connect” with the word burnout, and that she “fully knows” how lucky she is to have been able to take a break for herself, her daughter, and her mental health.
“In motherhood, my brain has taken me to some dark places that I didn't know existed,” she said. “In those places, I felt alone.
"When I found the courage to speak about those dark places, my community not only validated me and my experiences, but they told me they had those same experiences too. It is quite an incredible feeling to connect with someone who knows what it feels like. That is what the community is for me, and I couldn't be more grateful to have that in my life. They have saved me more than they ever could know.”
“They have walked beside me through all of my ups and downs of business and my life, they’ve motivated me to always keep going, and they believe in what I do and create," she said. "It is because of them, their support, and their word of mouth that I am able to have a demand that pushes sales way beyond any projection I would imagine.”
Her inspiration to launch a company
Before starting The Ollie World, Zeidman worked as a clinical therapist with a specialty in infant mental health and worked with children exposed to drugs and trauma. When she became a single foster parent to three-month-old Oliver, she felt he would benefit from swaddling, but said none of the swaddles then on the market met his needs, so she developed the first “Ollie” swaddle for him.
“Once Oliver started using his Ollie, I started noticing drastic changes,” she said. “Because of his trauma, drug exposure, and tight muscle tone, his body was never able to relax, but with the proper containment of the Ollie, he was able to finally relax for the first time in his life.”
She said seeing Oliver’s subsequent progress inspired her to found the brand in 2014. The self-funded company launched as a direct-to-consumer brand, and a limited partnership with Target to sell the Ollie in select stores launched in February 2021 later expanded to 1,800 Target stores nationwide.
“Launching in Target was a surreal moment and a huge dream come true,” Zeidman said. “As a bonus, my daughter Olive is on the packaging so to see it — and her face —on the shelf, was a moment that will stay with me forever.”
But she said that filling most of the leadership roles in her company herself during a time of rapid growth alongside a “small but mighty” team meant working all day as well as before her daughter got up and long after she went to bed, leading to burnout.
What her break looked like
As far as what her “break” really looked like — Zeidman said she stepped back “significantly” from the day-to-day operations of the company but that there was still work to be done.
“I still had to plan for the relaunch with all of the new colors and products, as well as implement an entire new warehouse management system and infrastructure, but I got to do it on my own time,” she said. “This meant I got to spend a lot of time with my daughter without having the pressure to ‘be.’ I felt more like mom rather than business-owner mom.”
She hopes to be more involved in the creative aspect of her company as she returns to work with the company's February relaunch, something she said she missed, and has teased new styles and colors. She recommends that other women also look to do more of the things that bring them joy as they combat burnout.
“What do you need to take care of you more or to make some priority for what you need, or is there anything you used to do that made you feel peaceful or good inside that you don’t do anymore?” she asked. “Breaks don’t have to be physical, the mental part is important, too.”